Msc1G4:Workshop

Street Sphere

In Rotterdam the weather is unpredictable: one minute it is sunny and warm, the next it suddenly rains heavily and all streets go empty. Street furniture could adapt to this, fulfilling different needs in different circumstances. What if a night lantern would transform into a soft round bench during a sunny day, within seconds bend into an umbrella during a shower and in the night shine as a lantern again?

A spherical form, consisting of different vertical blades, which can move both up and down and rotate at the same time, could be able to do just that.

Dry and light: top - down and bottom - down

Dry and dark: top - down and bottom - up, light on

Wet and light: top - up and bottom - up

Wet and dark: top - up and bottom - up, light on

Sketch Model

From plain white A4 paper, we made a sketch model, which we attached to the 180 degrees servo motor, reacting to the light sensor. While we pushed and turned the top of the sphere by hand, the bottom was rotating according to the amount of light on the sensor, this worked surprisingly well.

Prototype

For the prototype, we used two spools with wires, on the one side attached to the servo motor that continuously turn, on the other side to the top and bottom of the sphere. This sensor can for now only react to light: